KUALA LUMPUR, 11 October 2023: Express Rail Link (ERL) has concluded a service agreement with aviation technology provider SITA to equip ERL with SITA Check-in Kiosks and SITA Self Bag Drop services at the KL City Air Terminal in KL Sentral.
The new facilities should be installed and operational by Q2 2024. It will enable passengers to check in and drop their bags at the city centre train station before taking the KLIA Ekspres train to the airport, thereby reducing the stress on arrival. The hardware is supported by SITA Flex, a powerful next-generation platform enabling smooth and efficient passenger processing on and off the airport.
The new agreement opens the door to the future of airline check-in and passenger experience. With the self-check-in and self-bag drop (SBD) kiosks, the check-in process is faster and will allow passengers to tag and drop off their bags within 30 seconds. SBDs were installed at KL International Airport Terminal 2 in March 2018.
The deal marks a new era of connected and intermodal travel where passengers can benefit from joined-up services that reduce hassle and improve the travel experience.
ERL chief executive officer Noormah Mohd Noor said: “Our renewed partnership with SITA aims to modernise our in-town check-in process and enhance passenger experience. Self-check-in and self-bag drop facilities can potentially provide cost efficiencies for airlines while offering added convenience for passengers. The self-check-in kiosks are identical to those at the KL International Airport, and every airline that currently allows their passengers to do kiosk check-in at the airport can automatically extend this convenience to KL Sentral.”
“We just reopened the in-town check-in facility in September, with Malaysia Airlines being the first to restart the check-in services and another Malaysia-based airline to restart within this month. As air travel continues to recover, we remain committed to providing our passengers with a seamless and efficient travel experience,” added Noormah.
SITA president, Asia Pacific Sumesh Patel said: “The future of travel will be intermodal, and we’re excited to help join the dots between air and rail services via this partnership with ERL. Across the travel industry, we face similar issues, and there is a need to tackle these together through common and shared approaches — be that for air travel, cruises, railways, or events.”
